Mr McNicholas joined Kier in 2017 when the group took over his family utilities contracting business McNicholas Construction.

McNicholas Construction became Kier Utilities, with Barry McNicholas as managing director.

He will now leave the group in order to pursue non-executive opportunities.

Andrew Davies, Kier Group CEO, said: “I would like to thank Barry for his hard work over the past few years. Since Kier acquired McNicholas in 2017, Barry has been an integral part of our leadership team, and I wish him every success in the future.

“I am pleased to announce that Andrew Bradshaw, currently commercial director, Kier Highways, has been promoted to the role of managing director Utilities with effect from 1st December 2021.”